The Only Gamer In Shanghai – Reader’s Feature

Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. Even at the supposedly mature age of 23, it only takes some cold weather and festive dark nights to have me dancing around singing Christmas songs like some kind of demented loon. I’m the guy who watches every Christmas special, and insists making the wearing of festive hats at work mandatory.

But there was no shiny new game console waiting under the tree for young Nicholas this year. Was it because I have been a bad boy? Perhaps. But a far more likely reason is because I have been living in Shanghai, China for the last eight months.

Now, don’t get me wrong. China is a pretty awesome place. The food is amazing, and I love the kind of laid back uncouth mannerisms here that make the people of England look like differing ‘thank you’ machines. But, I’m going to be honest, this a gaming wasteland.

Picture if you will, the barren, desolate high streets of monotonous clothing outlets, each so generic it makes your eyeballs bleed with the sheer tedium. Trendy young men with their fingers twitching over their iPhones, but not a single PS Vita in sight. It’s hell.

Maybe there are some misconceptions about China. This is not the geek haven that is Japan, but rather a semi-communist state where law enforcement goes hand in hand with corruption, bribery and illegal detainment.

Ok, in all honesty, the CCP (China Communist Party) isn’t as big and scary as The Guardian will have you believe. There are ways to get around the Great Firewall and access Facebook, YouTube, and GameCentral (which barely works at all without a VPN – virtual private network) and no one will stop you.

However, the place where the Party’s power is really felt is the censorship of films, TV, and products from other countries.

Why this gaming void? Well, in the year 2000 the CCP put in force a gaming ban (I shudder at that phrase) which has effectively meant every console from then until now has not seen a proper release here.

Gaming companies have been trying to get around this ban for some time and grab hold of the huge and very lucrative Chinese market. In the Nintendo 64 era Nintendo released special iQue plug in and play controllers, and Sony sneakily marketed the PlayStation 2 as a home computer to get under the radar.

But despite this, console gaming has never really had an impact and mentioning the word Mario or Solid Snake progresses the conversation as much as kicking a line of fluffy ducklings into a combine harvester. Instead, the Chinese people’s interest in gaming is curbed into online and smartphone games, which are not only allowed but are now deeply entrenched into society.

It’s a start I suppose, and there is hope for the future too now that the DSi has finally been released here (although whenever I see a demo pod I want to whip out my 3DS and descend upon the crowd like some kind of ethereal gaming god.)

My internship ends in June, so I’ll probably be going back to good ol’ Blighty then (that’s if you can get me away from the Wii U my brother got for Christmas and has gloatingly showed me on Skype).

Let’s hope next time I set forth in this strange land, the sky will be Sega blue, and I can say ‘It’s-a-me!’ without getting strange looks.

By reader Nick Beaumont

The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk.